Music NFT platform OneOf, co-founded in partnership with Quincy Jones, raises $63m in seed funding

Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OneOf has raised $63 million in a seed round from prominent tech and music industry veterans.

The platform was co-founded by tech entrepreneur Lin Dai, digital media executive Joshua James, and music industry veteran Adam Fell, in partnership with Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones Productions.

Investors in the round included VC and environmental activist Bill Tai, who was one of the earliest investors in Zoom, Dapper Labs, Canva, Wish.com, Treasure Data and more.

Other investors include Suna Said of Nima Capital, participated by ESG fund Sangha Capital, seasoned tech investor Jack Herrick, Tezos Foundation, Jaeson Ma, founder of East West Ventures and co-founder of 88rising, and others. 

OneOf, which describes itself as an “NFT platform built specifically for the music community”, says that its aim is to “break down economic barriers to entry” in the NFT market.

The platform is committing to $0 minting costs for all artists looking to launch NFTs on its platform.

Whitney Houston, Doja Cat, H.E.R., Quincy Jones, John Legend, TLC, Charlie Puth, Jacob Collier, G-Eazy, AURORA, The Kid LAROI, Alesso and others will all release NFTs in the form of collectible music, art, and experiences on the OneOf platform, which will launch to the public in June 2021.

OneOf also plans to run an Emerging Artist Spotlight Program to “champion influential new voices through financial and marketing commitments”.

The initial artists in this program include Laura Mvula, Barbara Doza, Erick The Architect.

Built on the Tezos blockchain protocol, OneOf claims to be a “Green” NFT platform, which “has been designed to be extremely easy to use and environmentally sustainable”.

According to OneOf, minting an NFT on its platform using the Tezos blockchain uses “over 2 million times less energy than other networks such as Ethereum”, and “requires the same energy as sending out a tweet”.

OneOf says that it will also donate a percentage of its platform revenue from every sale to either a charity of the artist’s choice, or an environmental cause partner.

“Blockchain has the ability to democratize ownership and bring economic empowerment to both artists and fans.”

Lin Dai, OneOf

“Blockchain has the ability to democratize ownership and bring economic empowerment to both artists and fans,” said Lin Dai, CEO and co-founder of OneOf.

“We are building a technology company with an artist-first ethos and eco-conscious mission to help introduce hundreds of millions of non-crypto native users to blockchain through easy and exciting use cases such as NFTs.” 

“OneOf is lowering the friction to a more engaging relationship between artists and their communities by leveraging modern technologies.”

Bill Tai

Bill Tai added: “OneOf is lowering the friction to a more engaging relationship between artists and their communities by leveraging modern technologies.

“By using Blockchain, meaningful experiences – previously not easy to deliver, can be unlocked on OneOf.”

Doja Cat said: “I cannot wait to release my first Juicy Drops collection. However, I want to be mindful of environmental concerns and accessibility to all of my fans before we go live.

“Happy to now be working with OneOf who is addressing both of these issues.”

Elsewhere in the NFT market, NFT platform Bitski recently raised $19m in series A funding from investors including Roc Nation Co-Founder Jay Brown, Troy Carter, Jay-Z, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and 3LAU, who sold his own NFT collection for $11.6m in February.Music Business Worldwide